Katanga human rights NGO, Action Contre l’Impunité pour les Droits Humains (ACIDH) says that mineral exploitation is one of the greatest sources of human right violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  [ACIDH]
An open letter to the Governor of Katanga from ACIDH calls for the annulment of a circular that, if applied, could mean [...]

Without renegotiating the Sino-Congolese business deal, DR Congo will not qualify for the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative.  The IMF is now pursuing financing assurances from the Paris Club of creditor nations in order to ensure DR Congo can qualify for the initiative. [Forbes]
An outline of the main sources of disagreement [...]

Has MONUC (United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) provided assistance the FLDR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda)? [All Africa via New Times]
Demobilized soldiers in the northeastern Congo were dispersed by shots fired in the air by police. [AFP]
Plummeting mining revenues in DR Congo brought in “floods of emergency [...]

BRC DiamondCore Ltd., an African-focused diamond explorer with projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has entered into agreements with several creditors to exchange debt for common shares of the company. [Mining Weekly]
North Kivu Deputy Governor Fellel Lutaicheiowa says that he and his administration are determined to rebuild the war-torn region. [Voice of America]
Newly-elected [...]

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held separate meetings with African leaders, namely DRC Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito (pictured left), this weekend before the fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. [China View]
More than 16,000 civilians have been displaced last week after tribal clashes escalated between the Enyele and Munzaya villages of Northern DR Congo. [...]

The potential for major methane and carbon dioxide gas releases near Lake Kivu poses a huge risk to civilians near Goma. [The New York Times]
The trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba, former contender in the 2006 presidential election, is set to start April 27, 2010 at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. [Reuters]
Masudi Sangwa, a [...]

United Nations peacekeepers are sentenced for the sexual abuses the committed on civilians while on U.N. missions. [AP]
Although there has been increased funding for organizations working to end sexual violence in the Congo, the programmatic focus, which is heavily geared towards medical and judicial support, does not fully address the important issues. [All Africa via [...]

A prison break in Kindu leaves two dead and 90 inmates at large. [AFP]
Simon Mann, the British mercenary who alleged he was heading to the DRC when arrested with a plane filled with $100,000 worth of weapons, was pardoned by President Obiang Oguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday after confessing he was the manager [...]

Talks about extending the U.N.’s carbon-cutting Kyoto Protocol raised concerns for many African nations.  Kabeya Tshikuku, United Nations DRC delegation, summarized the sentiment saying, “Africa believes that the other groups are not taking talks seriously enough, not urgently enough.” [Reuters]
Norbert Nkulu Kilombo Mitumba, DRC’s new ambassador to Rwanda, arrives in Rwanda to commence his tenure. [...]

Second Africa-China summit to take place in Egypt this week. [Reuters]
The Congo’s highest civil court orders First Quantum, the Canadian mining company, to pay $6 million in damages to Congolese defendants. [Reuters]
At least 47 police officers are killed by armed villagers in the Dongo village of the Equateur Province. [Aljazeera.net]
President Joseph Kabila, chairman of the [...]